Secrets of Slytherin
by Diana Quill
Summary: Harry Potter could not ignore his thoughts to go back to the chamber, not when it might be a safe place to practice his secret talents without the danger of being seen, even if training his magic unsupervised might not be the best idea. His carelessness might prove to be the best thing to happen once it reverses a mistake made hundreds of years before. (HIATUS)
1. Secrets of The Chamber

**Hiya!**

 **This story has enough elements from the _Merlin_ series to be marked as a crossover, but I don't plan on having his character appear at all. Still, my writing usually gets away from me so I won't make any promises.**

 **Disclaimer:** _Nothing you recognize in this story belongs to me, and probably some you don't recognize too._

This will be the only disclaimer in the story.

 **As it is, I have another fanfic in progress (a _Merlin_ one) and plan on dividing my attention to both of them, but I'll give the same warning I gave on the other: _I can't guarantee fast updates at all._**

 **If you've read all this and still plan to stick with me and this story, happy reading!**

* * *

He was sleeping; it _is_ what he is used to doing most of the time, after all, but the sound of footsteps woke him from his slumber.

The boy was back, he noticed with a touch of hopefulness, the boy with the lightning scar. He had seen what had happened in the chamber, being aware for most of it, but had not dared to hope for him to come back.

The child looked thinner than the last time, if that was possible. He looked down to see the boy eyeing the basilisk's carcass warily.

"Dobby" the boy called, and he would have frowned if he could, but as soon as a house elf appeared in front of the boy he understood.

"Harry Potter Sir called for Dobby?" The elf asked, but as usual, he could not make out many words.

"Um – yes, Dobby. Is there anything that can be done with that?" he points at the basilisk

"Yes Sir! Basilisks are good for many things; the hide is rare but making very good armor, venom, nerves, brain and other organs be good for potions and rituals, blood too, and heartstrings for wands and staffs. The eyes still good for staffs too. Tootsies make good knives and daggers. The meat is prized by many magical species; all very valuable Sir, little things go to waste" Dobby lists as the boy's eyes widen.

"Can you take care of it?" Harry wonders

"Not me alone, no Sir, but Dobby can call friends to help?" the boy seems hesitant, so the elf adds, "Friends Dobby trusts, they won't tell about secret room"

"Alright, thank you Dobby" Harry smiles and the elf pops away.

He watched as the boy sat on the ground and just stayed there, looking at nothing. After a few boring moments, he sees him move his hand and concentrate on it. A small flame appears and the bo– Harry's face widens into a grin, watching it dance in his palm. He could swear he saw the child's eyes shine gold for a moment.

Soon enough his efforts to stay awake took their tool and he allowed unconsciousness to take him, the last image in his mind being the boy and his dancing flame.

He was back _again_ , that was the first thing he noticed once he found himself awake enough to see the chamber around him.

The house elves had cleaned it and the basilisk's body was no longer there, but the boy had not returned until now.

"It's a lot less terrifying when it's cleaner" He heard the child's voice and wished he could tell what he was saying.

The boy sat in the middle of the chamber once again, legs crossed and hands in front of himself.

Harry was practicing, he realized. Did he not know there was more to the chamber than the main entrance?

The answer was most likely no, he decided after some time of watching the boy and his wandless magic. He would have to find a way to show harry what else was hidden there, if only he could direct his magic…

 _Maybe next time_ , he thought as his energy failed him and he went back to sleep.

He did not know how much time had passed, but he woke to the sound of one of the passages opening.

It was Harry again, and apparently, he had managed to open the entrance. The boy spoke parseltongue, then. Could he be another descendant? Anyone was better than the previous visitor he had, one Tom Riddle. Maybe this one could do what the other could not.

The bad side of the boy finding another room was that he no longer practiced magic on the entrance, in his view. It had been so long, he missed seeing it, feeling the magic in the air.

On the next time he saw Harry, the boy was reading a familiar book. _Oh_ , he thought at recognizing it _, He knows his kind of magic._

If he could smile, his lips would be tilting upwards the moment the boy discovered he could do more than flames and move things without a wand. He read the book in a fast pace and did not take long to learn a few spells. The pronunciation was still off sometimes; after all, it was not the same as regular spells, but he managed well enough for the age he appeared to have.

It was some time later, in another of the child's irregular visits – he never knew when the boy would return, and it made him a little nervous – that his hopes were renewed.

He knew that spell.

" _Berbay odothey arisun quickan_ " The boy's voice was unsure as he pointed the palm of his hand at one of the snake statues. Nothing happened.

He tried a few more times in between other spells, but if it ever worked, he was not awake to see it.

The next time he is aware, a strange feeling is making itself known around him. Was that… yes, he confirms by forcing his own magic to feel around him. It was exactly what he needed, but it did not feel strong enough.

Concentrating, he focused more than ever before. This was his chance, he figured, or else the boy might give up. Gathering all his remaining power, he thrust his own magic to interact with the one around him, but not in a defensive way.

He felt the both his magic and the boy's interact for a moment before becoming one, and the last thing he heard was the _thud_ of something falling to the ground.

•••

Harry had somehow always known he was _different_.

A freak, his aunt said, but he knew better, because she lied too much for that to be true.

She lied about his parents, telling him they had died in a car crash, but he _remembered_ seeing his mother beg for his life before a green light took the warmth of her soul away, his father already gone before her. It was always the image of his worst nightmares.

She lied about him to people, telling them he was a delinquent and a criminal and in all an awful boy, while making him clean, garden and cook for her as a personal servant.

She lied about his dreams, of flying brooms and motorcycles, of a dog, a deer and a rat playing with him, of magical things.

 _Magic is not real_ , she said.

She lied about his punishments, telling him they would _beat_ the freakishness out of him and that it was for his own good, but pain was not good!

She lied about the accidents, the _freakish_ things that happened around him, floating objects, disappearing homework, fixed toys and fast healing bruises. They did not like the last one, he noticed, they usually reopened them as soon as they healed.

However, the one thing he was surer of, she lied about not seeing his eyes burn faintly with _gold_ before returning to their usual green.

Still, he endured it.

Adults _always_ lied, after all.

He could not trust any of them.

Then came the letters, and Hagrid and _magic!_ So maybe some adults were worth trusting after all.

Being famous was a bit of a surprise, of course, but he managed to go unnoticed most of the time if he kept his head down and hair covering the scar. He had spent so much time being invisible, _unwanted_ , that being the center of attention made him decidedly uncomfortable.

Hogwarts was too good to be true. He was with other children like him and even making _friends_. Everyone in Griffindor was nice and welcoming and he felt _wanted_. It did not matter if it was because of his fame or something else, it just felt so great to _belong._

He had known it was too good to be true. He did not belong there, not even amongst his own kind. They used sticks – _wands_ – to do magic, not their hands. They had to use words, focus, and make wand movements to acquire the desired result. And their eyes… they stayed the same, not even a fleck of gold to be seen. Still, he pretended. He hid his unusual ability and used the wand, because it was what was expected of him, and it was normal. People, he had learned, feared the unknown.

His first year was… unique. He had never expected his parent's murderer to be alive, let alone to face him. Fortunately, he remained alive. Another thing he had not expected were such loyal friends to be by his side. Hermione was smart – what else to expect from a know-it-all – and her knowledge had been very useful to overcome the challenges on their way to the stone, along with Ron's strategic mind. On the subject of the challenges, there was still something about them bugging Harry, but he decided not to think much of it then.

Going back to the Dursleys was a bucket of cold water on his warm and fuzzy mood, but he endured, as always.

Second year had proved to be another challenge. A _basilisk_ in the school, could he not have _one_ peaceful year? He stopped it, of course. Almost died in the process, but Ginny was safe and that was all that mattered. The petrified people were brought back, Lockhart was sent to St. Mungo's because of his little memory problem and Harry… well, he was back with the Dursleys.

Still, he could not stop thinking about the Chamber of Secrets. He made a promise to himself that he would look at it as soon as he could on third year. He did fulfill the promise, returning to it and even having Dobby and his friends clean it up a little. It was less terrifying once clean and rid of the giant basilisk body, he decided.

It was also a safe place for him to practice magic freely, _his_ kind of magic. At first, he only practiced in the middle of the room, alternating with a few meditation exercises he had read that helped with concentration, but then he became curious about the doors. Going on a hunch, he approached one of them.

" _ **Open**_ " He hissed in parseltongue, and the doors obeyed with only a few seconds of delay.

What he found inside would have made Hermione cry with happiness. It was a wide room, its left side completely covered in bookshelves and each book looked older than the next. In the center, a round wooden table with a few chairs around it and lots of other books, maps and trinkets on it. The right side, by the wall, had a half-moon kind of pool, the disturbing image of the giant basilisk appearing from it suddenly assaulted his mind, and he took a subconscious step back.

Still, his curiosity was bigger than his fear and soon he approached the table in the center, looking at the book open in the center of it. For about a second, it looked like absolute gibberish, and then suddenly the writings changed to perfectly readable English.

"Neat" He mutters, picking it up properly and looking over a few pages.

It looked like a compendium of spells, each page more different than the other, which brings the assumption that it was added to as time passed. The strange thing was the spells; they were not in any language he could recognize, even if the instructions had shifted to English.

He spent some time reading it, hesitating but for a moment before settling on the chair. The book never once mentioned a wand movement, only hand movements and that was solemnly for rituals as far as he had read. Maybe it was some type of ancient magic.

His eyes caught a bit of blank parchment on the table and he looked around for something to write with, but seeing no signs of a quill and ink, he decided he had better just memorize the foreign language and hope his memory was enough when researching later.

Casting a _Tempus_ , he discovered he might miss Herbology class if he did not hurry. Sighing, he cast a regretful look at the book and left, making sure to close both entrances behind him. No one else in the school spoke Parseltongue, at least not to his knowledge, but better be safe than sorry.

As soon as he could, he managed to sneak into the library. Miss Venisen was not too helpful; the old woman probably should retire since she does not seem to like children any more than Snape, but that was unlikely to happen. Still, he found out after few hours that the unknown language was in fact Old English, making it easier to find a dictionary, even if it _was_ almost at the end of the furthest shelves where no one ever went, since it apparently was the place for the not-useful-anymore-but-too-historically-significant-to-throw-away books that mostly only teachers read.

At night, he made some time to sneak out of the tower and into the Chamber. If his friends had noticed his nightly escapades, they did not comment on it.

Turns out translating the spells was harder than he imagined, so he gave up on that. After all, he did not need to know the exact meaning of _Wingardium Leviosa_ to enchant it. Instead, he focused on finding the right pronunciation to every word until he could try to perform one of the spells successfully.

Taking a piece of parchment, he decided to try one of the spells that seemed most harmless and easier to practice.

" _Icues bison raditani hihnan_ " He said, pointing his wand at it and stared hopefully at the blank parchment, but nothing happened.

Neither did it happen on his tenth nor twentieth try and variation of pronunciation.

" _Icuis bisan raditani huhnan!_ " He exclaimed the spell in annoyance, throwing his wand away over the book and parchment, making it roll off the table and fall to the ground.

With wide eyes, he noticed the blank parchment starting to fill up with a perfect copy of the page of the spell book.

"It worked!" He grinned, and then promptly frowned. Why hadn't it worked before?

He did use the same that pronunciation at least five or six times, since it was the one that gave him a feeling of his magic stirring like something warm inside his body, but all his wand did was grow heated in his hand at those times, so he assumed it was the wrong incantation.

Turning the parchment around, he went on a hunch and incanted the spell again, with the same pronunciation, but simply moving his hand over the book and parchment. For a second there, he felt silly, but then the next page appeared on the back of the parchment.

A grin made its way into his face.

This was going to be fun.

Soon enough Harry found that he could make less spells in Old English than in Latin before he was too tired to continue. He figured it took more power, since it was wandless. There were variations of a same spell available and quite a few of them seemed to be about healing, which was very useful to him since he hated the infirmary. After healing a few of his bruises from his last stay in the Dursleys, he discovered those were even more tiring. Maybe he _should_ avoid needing those.

The other books in the chamber were also interesting, but most of them did not seem to have the same charm as the one he found on the table and he had no hope of translating them any time soon. Still, there were books on plants and potions that had the charm and were actually an interesting read. He would probably have been more enthusiastic about potions class if Snape was not such an awful teacher to every house but Slytherin.

It was a month and so into the year that Harry found a spell he was determined to make work. In fact, he spent most part of a night on the Chamber's entrance hall trying to practice it, only to fail miserably every time.

Apparently, the stone snakes did not want to become real. That or he could not find the right pronunciation.

He tried it a few more times the next day, in between other spells, but no good came from it. Maybe he could not affect anything in the Chamber… but he had done that already, one of the last spells blew a snake statue to bits – Dobby saw to it that it was fixed later - e e so that could not be the reason.

Sighing, he sat down on the ground, sliding into it until he was staring at the ceiling. Then, a thought came to him at the sight of the tall statue of Salazar Slytherin.

"It's worth a try," He mutters to himself, then snorts because maybe his recent isolation is making him do that more times than expected.

Well, it was nice to talk without anyone to judge him around. He very much doubted the stone snakes held an opinion on his last potions mishap nor on how much of an ass Malfoy was, after all.

Walking to stand in front of the giant statue, he raised his hands in its direction and started incanting in every possible variation of pronunciation he could think of.

He was about to give up when he felt it, the familiar warm feeling in his body and behind his eyes.

" _Berbay odothay arisan quicken!_ " He repeated with more intent behind his words.

Suddenly, the warm feeling around his body began to feel like a burning heat flowing in the direction of his hands. His legs started to shake slightly, but he boldly incanted the spell one more time.

The last thing he saw were grey stones melting into a dark green color.

•••

When he came to, his head was hurting. Where was he, again? He had left the tower… but why did it feel like there was a soft bed under him? Wasn't he supposed to be on the…

Eyes widening, he sat up rapidly on the bed.

It was not the best course of action, he decided as his head started to hurt more and his vision blurred.

Oh, he did not have his glasses.

He moved his hands to feel around for them, dread making his stomach churn. No one had access to the chamber, except…

A voice came, making him jump from the bed and reach for his wand, which was not where he kept it. He did not understand a word of it, but he could make out the figure of a man standing on the doorway.

"Who are you?" He enquired defiantly.

The answer was the same as the previous words: absolute gibberish.

"I can't understand a word you're saying" He decides to announce, since the man did not seem too keen on attacking him _yet._

He saw the man take out something from his clothes and even through his blurry vision, he could make out the shape of a wand. He prepared himself to run out of the room at the first sign of magic used on him, no matter that he would have push the man out.

As it was, the man incanted a few words with the wand pointed clearly to himself.

"Apologies, I could not identify and reproduce the correct language without you being awake to speak it," The man said, and if the lack of an attack did not tell Harry that this was not Voldemort, the reassurance in the words did the job "I believe you are looking for these?"

Harry eyes the man's hand as he extended it, holding something out for him. His _glasses_ , he noticed with surprise at taking it. He puts them on and blinks a few times, his vision finally clearing from the awful blurry perception of the world.

"Who are you?" He looks again at the man by the door.

He was tall, maybe almost as tall as Dumbleodore. He wore long dark green robes that covered his feet and seemed much more regal looking than any others he had ever seen. His wand was also unusual, seemingly coming from two types of wood if the different tones of color intertwined meant that.

"Salazar Slytherin" The man extended his hand.


	2. Don't Believe All You Hear

"No you're not" the boy blurts out. _Slytherin is old, evil and very much dead._

This man was definitely not two of those three things. He was older than any student, that is true, but if Harry had to guess, he would say the man was in his thirties. His features are sharp, with high cheekbones and almond green eyes with black hair at shin length and curling at the end to frame them.

He did not _look_ particular evil, but Harry figures Tom Riddle also did not, so that is not a reassurance.

"I think I would be more aware of who I am than you, child" The man raises one brow, hand still extended.

"Uh… I'm Harry Potter" He shook the man's hand with his small one, nervously glancing around. The man had until now been nothing but polite, so he was not about to induce violence "Why am I here, Sir? Um – where is here, too?"

The man's lips curl upwards slightly as he eyes the boy.

"You were indisposed after that great display of magic. Nearly imploding your magical core is not a healthy action, Mr. Potter" He pockets his wand "However, I must thank you for freeing me of my stone prison"

"Freeing…" The boy's eyes widen comically "You – the statue – did I bring you to life?"

Salazar cannot help but to chuckle.

"Come, we can hold a better conversation once we are seated. I have something you need to take that will help with replenishing your core," he signals for the child to follow him and walks out of the room.

Harry hesitates for only a second before hurrying to follow the founder.

The room he is led into reminds him of the potions classroom. There are wooden tables with caldrons of different materials on them and a wide variety of ingredients can be found in shelves that cover two of the four walls, while one other is much like the room he is used to at the chamber, covered by books, and another by vials that are either empty or contain a potion.

"This should be ready by now" Salazar walks to a caldron, picking up an empty vial on his way and filling it with the liquid inside the caldron, it has a greyish appearance but with a faint golden shine to it "Drink up"

Harry looks at the vial warily, thorn between accepting and his perpetual distrust of adults.

Salazar, as if reading his mind, nods in what can be considered approval.

"You should not, in fact, accept unknown potions from strangers," he explains "I, Salazar Antioch Sager Slytherin do so swear on my magic that I shall not cause direct nor indirect intentional harm upon your person unless intentionally attacked first. As I say, so mote it be"

As he finishes, a barely-there greenish and golden shine surrounds his body for a moment.

"What was that?" Harry enquires curiously.

"That was a magical oath, now do take the potion. Sleep may have helped but I can sense it was not enough. Go on, all of it" He hands the vial to the boy.

Harry considers it for a moment before sighing and downing it in one go, making a face at the taste.

Salazar takes the vial and motions for the boy to keep on following him as he leads both to yet another room, but this one Harry recognizes. It is the room of the Chamber.

"We're still in the chamber," He concludes aloud.

"Yes, I would not take the risk to venture outside without knowledge of how many years have passed and what has changed" The man nods, and pulls a chair from the table in the center, then another one for himself to sit.

Harry takes it as an invitation and sits on the chair that was pulled by the man.

"Now, this book is fairly accurate" He points at the spell book Harry had been using to train and the boy's interest in renewed "But not all details are present in it. _If_ you had bothered to look at the notes in the back, it is detailed that it cannot bring an inanimate object to life, but only restore it to its natural living state if it had been previously cursed into being inanimate"

"Someone turned you to stone?"

"It was, in the beginning, an unfortunate accident" Salazar sighs, "It does not do well to enter a discussion with a Basilisk"

"Oh" Harry nods in understanding "It _was_ yours, then"

"Basil was a companion, a source of potion ingredients as well as a possible defense for the castle should there ever be an attack strong enough to breach its walls"

"So she wasn't supposed to kill muggleborns?" He frowns.

"Muggleborns?" Salazar frowns, but with a look at Harry, understanding downs on his face "No, it was not supposed to kill nor attack any students that were not a direct threat to others and the school. Unfortunately, after so much time locked in here it must have taken a toll on her mind and made her easier to be controlled by the likes of others" he says, disgust clear in his voice.

"Then you don't… uh – hate muggles and muggleborns?"

"No, I do not, child" Salazar sighs, "I hold no love for – muggles, that is true, however I do not wish them dead unless they become a threat to the wizarding world. You must take in consideration that in my time, they hunted our kind and burned us at the stake. Precautions were necessary to secure our _lives._ Although I have an inkling as to why my name has been tarnished so in your history and plan to correct it"

"So you want to talk to the school?" Harry startles at a thought "The school! I must have lost so many classes; my friends will be going crazy"

"Do calm down, you did not sleep for more than five hours and I do believe you have the habit of always coming at night" Salazar reassures "You should return to your school. However, I would request the use of your elf"

"How do you know – he's not _my_ elf, he's free"

"I could at times watch the happenings aroud me while in my inanimate state," He explains "Be that as it may, it would be helpful to have someone provide me food and favors while I cannot yet leave these chambers"

"Oh, alright then" Harry agreed "Dobby?"

The elf takes a moment, but soon appears with a _crack_ sound.

"Harry Potter Sir! Dobby be doing as asked, Sir"

"Thank you, Dobby" Harry smiles at the eager elf, deducing that as asked means taking care of his basilisk problem "Dobby, this is Salazar Slytherin" The elf's already enormous eyes widen even more at that "I want you to do as he asks as long as it's not a danger to anyone, can you do that?"

"Yes, yes Harry Potter Sir. Dobby will do as Mr. Slytherin says" The elf nods eagerly.

"Thank you Dobby" Harry grins

"Harry Potter Sir is too kind" The elf smiles back "Dobby must be going back, goblins be difficult to negotiate with but they want basilisk meat"

"Right, you can go then"

The elf is gone with another _crack._

"Thank you" Salazar nods at the child, his chest aching as he thinks back to his many students… but that was in the past now "Now you must go back to your school. Do come visit whenever you have the time, I don't plan on leaving here for a while yet" he moves his hand and within a second there is a wand in it. Harry's wand "Here, you may not have too much need for it, but it was time I returned it to you, Mr. Potter"

"Thanks Mr. Slytherin" Harry gets up "I'll try to come by the weekend, it's a visit to Hogsmeade and I can't go anyway" he shrugs, walking to the door.

"You can call me Salazar, if you'd like" He smiles slightly at the boy.

"Then call me Harry" Harry grins _**"Open"**_ he hisses at the door, then casts an alarmed glance at the wizard he is leaving behind.

"Oh, do give me some credit, you could not have _entered_ this chambers if you did not speak parseltongue" The man rolls his eyes "Now hurry, I believe it's almost morning"

Harry gives a relieved smile and runs out on his way to the Griffindor tower.

"I'll see you later, my little heir" Slytherin smirks to himself as he gets up, closing the book of spells "Dobby!"

It takes more than before for the elf to appear, but he soon stands in front of the man.

"Mr Slytherin Sir?" The elf looks up, slightly apprehensive.

"I have a list of things you will need to buy for me from wherever you can get them, do pay attention"

•••

As soon as the weekend came, Harry dashed down to the Chamber, not worried about his friends as they would be spending the day in Hogsmeade as usual. He ran down the stairs – and boy did it take him some time to figure _those_ out – and found himself in a completely different place.

Of course, he knew it _was_ the correct chamber, but it was lit with light and seemed to transform into a less creepy temple-like place. The excessive use of stone had not been changed, but there were other colors of stone on the floor and walls. The snakes had a green tone to them, contrasting to the white walls that seemed to reflect the lights and the polished stone floor that looked even cleaner than before, also free of any dents. Many other statues, he noticed, had been vanished or something of the like since they were not there. The water wells that ran along the walls were full of transparent liquid not in any way like the dirty water form before.

"I take it by your jaw on the floor that you approve of the renewal" Harry turned startled to see Salazar leaning against the door that gave access to the other rooms of the Chamber.

"Um – It looks – It's practically a new room, Sir" He said in awe.

"I had little to do between preparing a few potions and arranging for a portal key to Gringotts" He shrugged as if it was nothing much and signaled for Harry to enter "Now, I have been speaking to Dobby and he tells me you are not aware of your heritage"

"What do you mean?" the boy frowns "I know who my parents are"

"But you are not aware of the legacy left for you, I am now sure" he leads them to a couch that Harry realizes was not there in the first time. "You are the sole heir to the Noble House of Potter, which is a direct descendent of the Peverell family and so also of Godric Griffindor, although I am not sure as of yet if it would give you rights of descendant or heir. Moreover, you must also be a descendant of the Slytherin family, for parseltongue is an inherited gift"

"I – what? Wait, no I'm not your heir," Harry says defensively, reminded of the past year

"Of course not, I have not fathered any children," Salazar agrees "But I did have a sister and she most likely continued the line"

"Dum – I mean, Headmaster Dumbledore says that I can only speak it because Voldemort tried to kill me and left a piece of his powers when he couldn't" The boy tries to explain "That's when I got this scar, a curse rebounded" he lifts his hair off his forehead to show the lightning scar.

"That makes no sense at all, child" the man frowns, but his eyes focus on the scar "would you mind if I examined it?"

Harry hesitates for a moment, but then nods. Salazar had made a magical vow so he could not hurt him.

"Come closer" the man prompts, turning to sit with his legs crossed and completely turned in Harry's direction.

Harry scooted closer, also turning to the man.

"Now, this may hurt slightly if it is what I believe it is" he warns, and waits for the boy to agree. At the nod of agreement, he places both hands lightly on the sides of the child's head, closing his eyes and concentrating on the dark feeling coming from the scar.

Harry does not know how much time passes, but he is not aware of much for the following time. He felt like he was floating in a river, right beneath the water, but not drowning. The peaceful feeling was the best thing he had felt in a long time.

Suddenly, he can feel the water becoming colder. What was happening? It starts turning into ice around him, trapping him, and he cannot break free…

"Aaaargh!" His eyes widen and he sees that he is leaning against something.

"I apologize, I did not think… such vile branch of magic was not expected to be found within a child" Hands caress his hair as he listens to Salazar and Harry soon realizes he was leaning against the man's chest.

He quickly scrambles away, to the amusement of the founder.

"Wh– what was _that?_ " He is panting slightly and fights to control his breathing.

" _That_ was the presence of another sentience in your mind. Dormant, but present" Salazar explains

"The ice, that was some _thing?_ " The boy looks horrified

"I _piece of soul_ , to be specific" The founder says, voice full of absolute loathing "It should _not_ be in you, not anywhere at all" he sighs, knowing he is not being very clear "Have you ever heard of horcruxes?"

* * *

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 **Special thanks to NakedFury, Emberframe and humancreeper for the comments ;)**


	3. A Visit to Gringotts Bank

"Horcruxes?" Harry asks curiously, did that have to do with someone's _soul_ on him? "Not really"

"They are a disgusting branch of Dark Magic that fracture's one's soul and traps half of it in a vessel. I had not heard of a living one. Then again, not any wizard would dare taint their magic with this atrocity" Salazar explains "To do it as many times as this person has, for this half to be so small, his soul must be very fractured. Barely human at all"

For his credit, Harry pays attention to every word, his brain processing that news against what he already knew.

"So I'm a horcrux? I have a piece of Voldemort's soul in me" The last was not a question, as he came to the realization.

"Unfortunately, though I do not believe it was intentional. It has barely any hold, only present for lack of removal, it must have been done without any rituals" The founder now seems to be speaking mostly to himself "Such a violation to the natural order, a monstrosity," he mutters.

"Alright, I get it, not need to keep calling me names" Harry snaps

"Not _you,_ child" Salazar shakes his head "This Voldemort person, he is the only monster in this story"

The boy blushes slightly, but who could blame him for assuming it was directed at him? From his personal experience, it usually _is_.

"How can I take it out?" Harry asks

"A well-aimed _Avada Kedavra_ ought to do it, although it would not work in inanimate objects such as the diary you destroyed" The man explains "That is most likely another reason for the lack of living vessels"

"How do –" he holds his tongue "Right, you were watching"

"Not much else I could do, or else I would have stopped Tom Riddle while he still studied here" his tone is regretful, but he soon rolls his eyes "that ridiculous boy fancies himself my heir, if it were so I would be ashamed"

"So he's not?" Harry frowns

"What did I say before? I have not fathered any children, and magic is not as miraculous as to impregnate a woman on its own, now is it?" Salazar raises one brow.

"Sorry, I meant to ask if he's not a descendant of someone else in your family. You did mention a sister" The boy rephrases.

"I should hope not, but it is possible" Salazar sighs, getting up "Now, I _could_ remove the piece of soul in you, but as much as I would prefer to, it could prove useful to find the other pieces"

"I – can I do that? Find them?" he wonders aloud

"If you are in enough proximity, yes. I can easily detect objects tainted with Dark Magic, used as I am to it, but I could not distinguish a soul from something inanimate, it has no mind for me to enter" The founder explains.

"How many can there be? You said he must have done this many times"

"I would wager eight or nine, but one who choses this path has little soul to begin with; maybe five or six others, but I cannot be certain. I do know they must be destroyed, for he cannot die while any horcrux remains. The worst path to immortality, it is" Salazar answers, then shakes his head "But enough unpleasantness, this can be discussed at another time. I wanted to request your company when I venture to Gringotts to gain access to my vault, it would be a good time for an inheritance test"

"I can't leave the school," Harry says regretfully

"You already have, this room is not covered by the school's wards" The founder explains "And it would not take much time…" he considers the boy for a moment, seeing his conflict, and resumes with a different approach "I am not used to this time, as you may know. Your help could prove invaluable"

Harry takes a moment and then smiles slightly at the man.

"Alright, but I have to be back before dinner time" he concedes, wanting to help.

"Wonderful" Salazar smirks, taking something off his pocket "Now hold onto this, it is almost time for our meeting"

Harry looks confused at the golden galleon, bigger than usual but it has little other differences. With a mental shrug, he takes hold of it too.

The world swirls away with him.

•••

"Mr. Sager, Mr. Potter" The goblin nods at the man and eyes the child laying on the ground.

"The first trip is always slightly unsettling; don't worry" Salazar assures Harry as he helps the boy up "Splitaxe" he nods back at the goblin.

Harry looks around after his stomach settles and he makes sure all other organs are still there. The room does remind him of his visit to Gringotts, but it is not the main room. This specific room has a big table that reminds him of a meeting room and only one goblin eyeing them.

"Sorry, hello" Harry answers slightly nervous under the goblin's gaze.

"Shall we proceed with business? I have the inheritance tests ready as requested" Splitaxe motions for them to approach the table.

" _Tests_?" Harry mutters, and then looks accusingly at Salazar "You already planned on bringing me"

"I do believe one of the traits of my house is cunning" The founder smirks, and the boy rolls his eyes.

"What do I have to do, Mr. Splitaxe?" he asks the goblin while approaching the table.

"I just need some of your blood" The goblin answers, taking two things from the table. He notices he is holding a goblet with his long fingers in one hand and a blade in the other.

The boy bites his lip, unsure, but Salazar places a hand on his shoulder and he sighs in resignation, extending his own hand.

The goblin holds the goblet under it and makes a quick cut on his palm, making him wince. He watches as his blood falls into the goblet and keeps pouring until the cup is half-full, then suddenly the cut starts to heal, closing in a few moments.

The goblin wordlessly takes the goblet away and leans into a parchment placed on the table, pouring the blood in a thin line following the top border of the parchment, then another at the left border. Harry watches expecting the blood to pour down the table, but the parchment seems to absorb it until only a reddish line can be seen where it was poured.

A second later, letters start to appear in blood-red color.

 _Harry James Potter_

 _Son of Lord James Fleamont Potter and Lilly Evans_

 _Heir by blood and name to the Noble House of Potter – Hardwin Linfred Potter line_

 _Heir by blood to the Noble and Most Ancient House of Slytherin – Zinnia Lathurna Slytherin line_

 _Heir by name to the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black – Phineas Nigellus Black line_

 _Heir by magic and worth to the Noble and Most Ancient House of Gryffindor – No direct line_

"What? How can I be heir to this many houses?" Harry looks up at Salazar

"Well, you are only heir of blood to two of them. Most likely from your father and mother's sides." The man explains "Heir by name means someone from that family line names you their heir no matter if you were born or not from their bloodline." He snorts at the last line "Heir by magic and worth means you carry their blood but it's too diluted to make you blood heir," _I_ _should have known, by the amount of maidens he lured into his bed "_ but you proved worthy of the family name with an act. I imagine it was when you pulled Godric's pet sword from the hat and slayed the basilisk"

"But I don't know anyone from the Black house; at least I don't think I do" Harry protests

"Sirius Black was their last blood heir" The goblin interrupts "Only he could name another heir"

"The escaped convict?" Harry widens his eyes "Why would he name _me_ his heir?"

" _That_ is a subject for another time; we _are_ in a bit of a hurry. If you will?" He extends his hand to Splitaxe.

The goblin proceeds with the same action of cutting his palm and filling half of a goblet, then pouring the blood into the borders of a different blank parchment that soon begins to fill.

 _Salazar Antioch Sager Slytherin_

 _Son of Lord Salazar Sager Slytherin and Amaryllis Barloc Peverell_

 _Lord of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Slytherin – Salazar Sager Slytherin line_

 _Lord of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Peverell – Antioch Colyton Peverell line_

 _Heir by name to the Noble and Most Ancient House of Ravenclaw – Rowena Sellasie Ravenclaw line_

 _Heir by name to the Noble and Most Ancient House of Hufflepuff – Helga Mordha Hufflepuff line_

 _Heir by name to the Noble and Most Ancient House of Griffindor – Godric Peverell Gryffindor line_

The goblin's eyes are wide, much like Salazar's, but both for different reasons.

"Lord Slytherin" The goblin says suddenly, his tone much more respectful than before "If you wish to access their accounts, I must take this matter to their manager"

"Not at the moment, I only wished for the information" The Lord waves a hand dismissively "I will return at another time" his gaze fixates on the goblin, cold "I don't have to mention that my return is not to be spoken of, do I?"

"Goblins do not gossip" Splitaxe assures

"They made you their heir," Harry notes, looking at the parchment "How come? Didn't they have children? And weren't you their age?"

Salazar chuckles

"So many questions," he rebuts, "They did have children, especially Godric, but this has a different meaning. It grants me access to their vaults" _had they known? It is a possibility…_ "Most likely, they wanted me to have something"

"We're going to their vaults?" Harry's eyes are wide with enthusiasm

" _We_ are apparating back to the school. _I_ will come back to see my friend's vaults at a later time" Salazar corrects "Thank you for your service, Splitaxe. May your gold ever flow"

"May your gold ever flow, Lord Slytherin" the goblin bows

"Now, hold onto me. This will be unpleasant," He instructs Harry and the boy obeys.

They are gone soundlessly in less than a second.

•••

"Mate, did you know Sirius Black is your godfather?" Ron asks in a whisper, which for him is just slightly less loud than normal speech, meaning still too loud.

"Ronald!" Hermione glares at him.

"Really?" Harry frowns. That _would_ explain why he is the Black heir

"We heard Professor McGonagall, Professor Flitwick, Hagrid and some others talking about it at the Three Broomsticks" Hermione explains, "Apparently he was a childhood friend of your father. When your family went into hiding, your house was put under the Fidelius Charm – no one knows where it is without being told by the Secret Keeper, which was Black"

"And he told You-Know-Who" Ron adds, "They said he killed another friend of your dad, Peter Pettigrew, and twelve muggles with a single curse. That's why he went to Azkaban"

"He – he betrayed my father?" Harry asks "but…" _It doesn't make sense. Why name the son of a person you're going to betray as your heir? It's not even public knowledge so it can't have been for appearances._

"Sorry Harry, we thought you should know" Hermione looks apologetic

"Thanks guys" Harry smiles slightly and the two smile back before leaving him to think.

Something was very wrong with this Sirius Black situation.

* * *

 _ ***Making up names at random because I can***_

 **Now, onto a _few_ explanations:**

 **The _first_ Salazar Slytherin married Amaryllis Peverell, daughter of Antioch Peverell, making his son heir of both houses.**

 **Godric is the son of one of Cadmus Peverell's sons, that's actually how he and Salazar came to meet. They're family.**

 **Harry, on the other hand, is a descendant of the Ignotus Peverell line, merged into the Potter line since it was a woman of their line who married a Potter. That's why he is technically of Godric's blood (Peverell) but not in his direct line.**

 _ **"How did he know those things to explain?" "This didn't exist on his time, how does he know it?"**_ **and similar questions, here's the answer:**

 **He is _not_ with Harry all the time and he _can_ leave the school. Of couse he has been studying this time to know how to behave accordingly. He isn't a Gryffindor after all, no need to go charging in without thought heh**

 _ **"How can he apparate in and out of the school?"**_

 **The Chamber of Secrets is not within the school's anti-apparition wards, but even if it was, the founders could apparate inside them, as well as any headmaster could once they have control of the wards ( this is my take on it, not canon to my knowledge)**

 _ **Thanks**_ **to NakedFury, redslovelyangel and Angel-Hime-Chan for last chapter's comments.**

 **This story is unbetaed and likely to stay that way, so there will be a few grammar mistakes, I thank those who warn me about them so I can fix since I might not notice some.**

 **See ya next chapter _*waves*_**


	4. Surprises at The Feast

"Well, took you long enough!" Godric's voice said, startling him as he turned to face the portrait.

Salazar had returned one day later to see to his friend's vaults and, no wonder, had chosen to see Godric's first right after leaving his own.

"How…" The fourth founder frowned "Oh, of course. Rowena did succeed in her little art experiment then"

"Clearly, old friend" Godric smiled, showing his white teeth.

The man in the painting was visibly older than the one Salazar remembered, but his smile was just the same. He had always regretted that the last expression he had seen in the man's face was one of sadness after a heated discussion, but now that had changed. The fiery red hair was longer than what he remembered too, but it only served to accentuate the curls and was not even as long as his own, stopping just below the ear. Bright blue eyes conveyed regret and joy at seeing his friend again.

"What of the women?" He asked

"Oh, they are waiting for you on their vaults, but Rowe was sure you would visit me first" The man shrugged "How much has passed? We do not have ways to measure the time in here"

"More than a thousand years" Salazar answers, approaching the portrait "How could you let that dirty impostor slander my name?"

"How many apologies do you need?" The redhead rolled his eyes

"One would suffice; I cannot believe you could not tell the difference!"

"Alright, I can recognize my mistakes, unlike _others._ I apologize" The portrait offers with a sigh "Can we move on? I have not seen those beautiful ladies in a thousand years!"

"As you wish" Salazar smirks and, taking out his wand, taps it twice on the frame. It shrinks to the size of a galleon before he throws it in the pocket of his new robes.

Godric's vault was primarily full of weapons, the amount closely followed by gold and other trinkets. One could tell a few things had been moved or removed in time, but none of it recently. It seemed the bloodline was too far wide to provide one direct blood heir for the vault at this time.

The sight of Rowena's vault, the next he decided to see, was comforting. The amount of books and loose parchments far surpassed the amount of gold in a corner of it, with barely enough space for him to walk to the end wall.

"Oh, is that you Salazar?" He heard her before he saw her, but once he did; he could not hold his surprise.

Rowena had been the youngest of the three, but now she looked older and the change was slightly unsettling. The dark brown hair reached her waist, probably past the frame of the painting; her smart upturned grey eyes had a knowing look as her lips held a smirk, arms crossed over a blue dress.

"I take it you have been expecting me?" He speaks once he has the presence of mind to do so.

"Of course" she smiled openly "One grows bored after a decade or two of being a painting. Tell me, what has happened to our school?"

"That is a matter to be discussed later; I would rather have all of you present" Salazar answers, repeating the same action as before and shrinking the painting, pocketing it.

He took a while in the vault, looking for a few specific books and shrinking those too to take with him as he left.

Helga's vault was the less full of theirs, holding various trinkets but a small amount of gold to their standards. She was the most likely to still have one heir or two around with rights to it.

"Helga?" Salazar would deny, but his eyes watered slightly at the sight of her portrait.

Her blond hair was shorter, cut to shoulder length and framing her heart-shaped face. Kind light brown almond eyes looked at him in surprise and her mouth soon stretched into a smile.

"Oh, Sal" her voice was as sweet as he remembered "I have missed you"

"And I you, Helga" He smiled in response "I have the others with me" he pointed to the pocket in his robes "I believed it was time we talked"

And talk they did.

Soon the living founder as well as the paintings found themselves in the chambers below the school, positioner in a circle to that all could see each other. Pleasantries were exchanged and apologies were given and accepted before they finally came to the point of interest. Hogwarts.

"How did our school come to this?" Helga looked disappointed at his explanations.

When he entered the Harry's mind, the soul piece was not the only thing he saw. An old man with ridiculous colorful robes ran the school and seemed to not care much for other student's safety, setting tests for first years and allowing possessed professors to work on the school.

A ghost with little teaching talent taught History of Magic and narrow subjects such as the goblin wars. Astronomy was taught at night, as if there did not exist any charms to mimic the night sky onto a classroom's roof, Herbology has little to no theory classes and Potions had a completely unsuitable teacher that, while seeming to be a decent Potions Master, was not fit to interact with children and blatantly favored the Slytherin house.

Divination was one of the causes of more concern. The teacher could barely be considered a seer, her classes apparently smelt too much of incense and alcohol to know if she was drunk or simply out of her mind while predicting student's deaths left and right. That was a class supposed to be available strictly to students with seer or empathy gifts, not a joke of a class considered an easy pass.

"This needs to be corrected" Rowena insisted

"Sally, old friend" Gryffindor smirked mischievously "I want you to do us a favor… now tell me more about the houses…"

•••

It was the day after New Year and the Hogwarts express had arrived earlier, meaning that all students were present for the night feast. None of them, however, paid much attention to the walls behind the high table.

Ron was happily munching on a chicken leg while Harry moved some food around in his plate. Hermione, whom they still were not speaking to yet, sat further down with a few other girls and had her head stuck inside of a book.

Harry was deeply annoyed. He visited the chamber some other times, but his last three visits had been unsuccessful. It simply refused to open for him! Had Salazar grown tired of his company? He tries his best not to annoy the founder, and even enjoyed when the man was busy making potions and decided to teach him a few things or let him help – Snape had nothing on the founder with his classes.

Now the other students were back from Christmas and sneaking around would become even more difficult.

"Well, doesn't that look tasty" A cheerful voice spoke above the noise and a few people turned to look in its direction, teachers included since for them the voices were even closer, as if right behind them.

The paintings behind the high table had always been the not moving type, from the time when it had not yet been invented. Supposedly, the central four ones in line with the four long tables were of the founders themselves, albeit there were no other confirmations to that.

"Oh, don't you start, Godric" a feminine voice joined, and that made all heads turn.

Three of the four usually still paintings were substituted for clearly moving ones. They held a few similarities to the ones from before, but their habitants were clearly younger than depicted in the still paintings and obviously, they could move and speak.

"Well, this is interesting" Dumbledore had gotten up once he noticed the change, and turned to the paintings. Godric Griffindor, Rowena Ravenclaw and Helga Hufflepuff looked down at him from their respective frames "I had not been informed of any other paintings of the _founders_ being _found_ "

This causes a few chuckles, but the hall is quiet in awe as they look at the paintings.

"Well, no one had gone through the trouble of checking our vaults" Rowena said with a perfectly arched eyebrow.

"Do not be rude, Rowe, he was rather busy after all" Godric smirks, enjoying their little prank.

Salazar had protested, saying it was childish and they needed a strategy to take back the school and fix it, but even Rowena agreed that they needed some fun after so much time figuratively gathering dust.

"I apologize for the lack of warning. Headmaster Dumbledore, was it?" Helga smiles kindly "We would have requested for a private meeting but Godric insisted on this, the prankster"

"Come on, look at their faces" Godric prompted "Close your mouth, children, or you will catch flies and no ladies"

That had many of the boys closing their mouths and many girls giggling.

Harry could barely believe, there were moving paintings of the founders! _Of course, their vaults._ It downed on him that Salazar had probably been the one to arrange this and did not want him to know until now. Well, it was a pleasant surprise to know it was not because he had become a nuisance to the man.

"Correct, and It's of no consequence, I appreciate a good prank from time to time" The headmaster assured "But I would like to know how you came to be here" _How someone entered the castle without alerting the wards and messed with the Great Hall without being caught!_

"That was the work of a close friend of ours, though he was also against it. That man needs to loosen up sometimes" Godric teases "I see a lot of pretty faces in my house, the hat has been working right. Hello there!" he waves at the Gryffindor table, causing cheers and waves to erupt from it.

"Do be less of a child, Godric" Rowena rolls her eyes, but also waves slightly to her own table.

"Well, I believe introductions are in order" Dumbleodore turns to the other teachers, prompting them to get up.

Soon teachers and their positions were announced.

"I am not the only one to notice the lack of a portrait of Slytherin," Snape adds after introductions, making the silence return to the hall.

"Isn't that because he was a traitor?" someone's voice comes from the Gryffindor table, it's not loud but it's easily heard in the silence of the hall.

" _Traitor?_ " Godric sounded offended "Where in heavens did that come from? The man is no more a traitor than Rowe is unintelligent"

The chatter erupts at that affirmation, while it brings a smile to Harry's face.

"History has a terrible habit of becoming distorted with time. I have even heard the ridiculous story that my dear Helena stole my diadem out of jealousy, how outrageous" she huffed "Unfortunately, writers tend to insert conflict where there is none"

"Sal does not have a painting because we could not paint one of him" Helga answers the question directly "Now, I'm sure these lovely children have to eat and go to bed, but we are free to answer question if your professors and Headmaster will allow"

"I'm sure we can find some time for that tomorrow" Dumbledore answer "We can cut short a class for the students to get to know the founders. As for now, everyone back to eating.

The command was obeyed with reluctance but soon the students were no longer staring at the portraits of the founders, or at least most of them were not.

"Can you believe that? The founders themselves!" Ron grinned, "Godric has red hair! Everyone thought he was blond"

"Yes, I noticed" Harry chuckles at his friend's enthusiasm.

"How do we even know those are the real founders?" Someone asked and they recognized Hermione's voice, so it was ignored.

"I just can't believe what they said about Slytherin. If he's not evil, why was there a bloody people-eating basilisk in the school last year?" Ron continued

A few of the people listening to their conversation nodded in agreement.

Godric watched the interactions with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.

Things were about to get interesting in this school, or at least more so.

 _Possessed teachers, basilisks and prisoners on the loose, how can we compete with that?_

* * *

 _ **Godric is a prankster, Helga is a sweetheart, Rowena is annoyed and Salazar just wants to plot in peace haha**_

 **I have no idea where this is going, by the way. It's one of those make-it-up-as-you-go kind of stories. Still, hope you guys are liking it!**


	5. Twenty Questions And Some

As the Headmaster promised, a class had been cut short for a little interaction with the founders. They could have left it for the weekend, but the students would be anxious and curious until then, rendering the rest of the week classes practically useless.

Harry did not complain about losing Care of Magical Creatures. As much as he liked Hagrid, the man's class was not one of the most informative but one of the most dangerous.

The students soon noticed that the Great hall had been modified. The high table was gone and the space where it stood had been enlarged to fit chairs enough for all the students to sit, no house separation.

"How –" Minerva stared puzzled at the new arrangements

"We asked the castle, of course" Helga smiles "Come on, darlings, take a seat. I am sure there is space for everyone"

The students soon found their seats, in a somewhat organized fashion. From the front to the back sat first years to the seventh, and the founders could not help but notice that the houses were divided even while made to sit together. From right to left sat Slytherin, Ravenclaw, Gryffindor and Hufflepuff, few students daring sit too far from their housemates.

"Well, come on, don't be shy. No question is a stupid question," Godric prompted

"Yes it is" Rowena frowned

"I did not mean it literally, Rowe. Aren't you supposed to be the smart one?" Godric teases, successfully breaking the tension in the air and making the woman roll her eyes.

A few hands were up a moment later.

"Aren't they well-behaved" Helga smirks, it seeming out of place in her kind face, making a few of the professors present snort at the comment.

"You with the bushy hair, what's your name?" Godric pointed

"I'm Hermione Granger" she blushed slightly at their attention "Well, I was wondering how we are supposed to be sure you are the true founders" she says more than asks with a superior tone, "there are no registers of your paintings and suddenly appearing in the Great Hall _is_ suspicious"

A few offended comments were heard, berating the girl, but Rowena soon put an end to those.

"She is completely correct in her enquiry, is the wizarding world so used to believing all they're told without proof now? Enquiry is the base of obtaining knowledge." She starts, interrupting all talk "Now, we do not have much proof to offer at the time. The goblin king, Ragnok I believe, can attest to the time we put these paintings in our vaults and to them being removed a few days ago, as well as to the authenticity of our origins"

"And if old Ollivander or someone of his family is still around, they can confirm to whom these beauties were sold" Godric adds, raising his wand to show.

"Yes, I do believe they never informed anyone of the makings of our wands, that ought to be good proof too" Helga smiles "Good question, dear"

Hermione grins, satisfied with the answer.

Soon many other students are asking questions and are amused by the founders' inner banter whenever they disagree with something.

"The boy with the lightning scar" Helga chooses "What's your name, dear?"

"Harry Potter" He grins at answering the first question they always make to every student they choose "Do any of you have any funny stories of Salazar?" he smirks.

"Oh, I like you, boy" Godric matches his smirk "Me and Sally" he starts, eliciting laughs at the nickname "are second cousins, I practically grew up with him and his sister, my what a beauty"

"Have some respect," Rowena chastised

"He may be talking about Salazar," Helga teases, to the affront of the male founder.

"If you two would kindly let me speak," the red-haired and currently red-faced founder requests "I believe we were around twelve years old, Sally was adamant on mastering throwing knives"

"Oh dear" Helga covers her smile with her hand.

"He used to practice out on the village, with the peasants and the like, but accidentally cut this lady's hair after a bad throw" Godric continued "I have never seen him run so fast in my life, I think his fear of blonde women comes from that, actually. She forced him to find a way to grow her hair back, and that wasn't the worst… when he did make a potion, it worked a little _too well,_ if you understand" he moved his hands to mimic a beard on his face and by then most students were laughing and gasping for air.

"He's not afraid of blonde women," Helga protests

"Of course not, you're the exception dear Puffy" Godric smirks "I hope that satisfied your curiosity? If not, I have many where that came from. There was a time one of his and Rowena's experiments –"

"I do believe we must let others asks their questions" Rowena timely interrupted "The boy with white-blond hair"

"Draco Malfoy" The boy says proudly, and Godric holds back a snort "If you know so much about Slytherin, then what of his secret chamber?"

"Yeah, with the people-eating basilisk" Ron added "Bloody sister-kidnapping monster"

"You mean Salazar's den?" Godric frowns "Yes, we did hear about the happenings of the past year. Basil must have been insane from isolation to resort to attacking students"

"She was actually being controlled by Voldemort," Harry mutters, but a few people still hear and flinch at the name.

"Oh, _you_ were the one who slayed it if I remember correctly" Helga smiles at Harry.

"With _my_ sword, of course" Godric adds proudly

"So that was true?" the students started to whisper amongst themselves. Many had heard a few accounts to what had happened on the past year, but nothing had been confirmed, "You actually killed a basilisk?"

"Um – yes" Harry nods, blushing at the attention in equal measures of embarrassment and annoyance. First, he is the next dark lord and heir of Slytherin – though that last part was true – and now he was to be admired for it as if last year never happened? "Didn't know you'd heard about it"

"He told us about it alright, couldn't shut up about your recklessness and how lucky you were that a phoenix decided to save you from the basilisk's venom" Godric said as if in complaint, but with underlying humor "Good job, I say"

"I believe you have mentioned this unnamed ' _he'_ before" Dumbledore interrupts "who is this person that is so informed about the comings and goings of Hogwarts, if you're inclined to share?"

Godric simply crosses his arms and raises one brow at the man.

Rowena does not offer an answer either.

Helga simply chuckles.

" _I believe_ they are _not_ inclined to share, Headmaster" Professor Sprout points out with humor

"This could prove to be a matter of safety. If anyone can enter the castle and spy on students, then something should be done about it"

Rowena is the first to snap.

"Something should be done about many things, which is correct. Especially about incompetent teachers and _possessed_ ones!"

"Trolls in the castle, _Dementors on the school!_ " Helga continues

"If you are so worried about student's safety, stop inviting danger into Hogwarts and playing students to face them, _Headmaster_ " Godric completes with disdain "Three headed dogs, Devil's snare, charmed keys, trolls and _potion riddles_ are challenges for children, and the clues left out prove that. If you want to play with people's lives, do obtain their _consent_ first!"

The Headmaster looked surprised at their knowledge, as did most of the people in the room at the three founders' accusations.

Harry looked completely confused. How had they learned of those things? He never spoke to anyone and he was sure Ron and Hermione did not share it with the recently recovered paintings.

"I know some of the recent events have proven dangerous, but there is no safer place for the children than Hogwarts" Dumbledore tried to placate the three as well as teachers and students "As for the Dementors, the Ministry of Magic gave us no choice. There _is_ an escaped prisoner on the loose after all"

"The Ministry nor any outside force should ever be allowed to interfere with the school! And we were informed of that, though our mutual friend wonders on the guilt of such prisoner," Godric rebuts

"I don't care if you're the founders of this school; Sirius Black is a traitor and a murderer that caused the death of close friends" Minerva interrupts on a rare show of excessive emotion.

"A traitor and a murderer that named the son of the man he betrayed as the heir to his house? There is something wrong with that image" Rowena meets her eyes and Harry gasps in surprise.

Not in surprise to the fact, as had many others, but that Salazar had informed them of it.

"I tire of this conversation," She continues, and suddenly her portrait is only displaying the painting of an empty library.

"I think I will follow Rowe's lead" Godric nods and once more, the portrait is empty, only a room that seems to be fit for dueling but full of weapons in the walls is to be seen.

"Do forgive my friends, they are emotional over what became of this school and the wizarding system in its entirety" Helga sighs.

"That is confidential information your friends just announced to the whole school," Dumbledore chastises.

"And one would wonder why that is" Helga rebuts with a sad smile "As Rowena, said, do you accept all as you're told?" she shakes her head "Well, I believe it must be already the time for lunch. Excuse me" the third portrait facing the students is suddenly as empty as the others, the sunny meadow behind her losing some of its glow.

Ron faces Harry with both raised brows.

"That went well"

•••

"Did you tell them?" Harry barges into the chamber angrily, finding Salazar in a couch facing three portraits placed over chairs in a semi-circle in front of it "How did you even know what happened since first year?!"

"There is no need to shout, child" he chastises the boy "I admit I have not been entirely truthful to you"

"What a surprise" _coming from Slytherin himself._ Harry crosses his arms, only now noticing the portraits actually contain the founders.

"That is no way to speak –" Rowena started, but Salazar interrupted.

"He is right to be angry, what I did was in no way correct, but I needed to know what was happening outside" Salazar explained, "Harry, have you heard of Legilimency?"

The boy shakes his head in denial

"Legilimency is the art of magically entering and navigating one's mind and its layers, gaining access to their memories and feelings to watch and interpret. I am a master on this field and that is how I found the Horcrux inside of you," The living founder continued.

"But… you didn't see just the horcrux" Harry "Y-you saw…"

"Most of it, yes" Salazar nods

Harry's mind immediately conjures up the image of Vernon's last beating, of days without eating, his cousin's friends running after him…

Salazar looks sadly at the boy.

Harry runs out of the chamber as fast as he can manage.

"Poor child" Helga sighs, understanding his situation "don't worry, he will come around"

"I am not worried" Salazar scoffed at the implication.

Rowena eyed him with a knowing look.

"You do know it is alright to care, don't you?" Godric teases

"I would rather not" Salazar answered with a cold look leveled at the man wearing red "You do remember what happened the last time"

"At least I cannot die a second time" Godric shrugs and suddenly finds himself in the line of other two glares.

"On another subject, when are you planning to make yourself known?" Rowena asks

"I am currently taking care of all the legal means to ascertain my claim to properties and vaults, as well as one quarter of Hogwarts, as we agreed. It may take some time and some shadow work, but I plan on it being over by the start of next term and no later"

"That will be an exciting start of year feast" Godric smiles.

"You are not the only one with a penchant for dramatics" Helga chuckles.

"Do shut up" Salazar rolls his eyes.

* * *

 **And this is what I came up with... Special thanks to magicanimegurl and Ivy Kanka for the comments. I'll think about that suggmestion :)**


	6. Howl of The Werewolf

Contrary to the three founder's predictions, the boy did _not_ return to the chambers.

Unknown to the four, the Twins had given him a map they meant to show him on the last Hogsmeade weekend but could not find him and after not visiting during the week, his weekend was busy with sneaking out of the castle.

The portraits did not risk talking to him during meals, since the subject was not of interest to the rest of the school, and he made his best to ignore the need to go down to the chamber and practice his wandless magic or just hang around Salazar.

Contrary to what he wanted himself to believe, he had grown to trust the man, and he has been lots of help in a various subjects, especially potions. Now he would rather suffer a detention than visit the man that decided reading his mind without permission was an okay thing to do.

Still, maybe he could use the man's guilt to his advantage… _and isn't that a very Slytherin thought_. He shook his head. He was busy, anyway.

Buckbeak, classes and bloody Dementors everywhere. With that and Quidditch, as well as trying to mediate between Ron and Hermione, he had no time to wander into the chamber.

Or so he told himself.

Salazar was just as good with making up excuses, and not even false ones. He had to catch up with modern society and finish negotiations with the goblins, as well as deal with the ministry. To his luck, his family's ring took him places even so far into the future.

"I can't believe some of the stories these people tell" Helga laughed from her portrait.

Salazar had recently been altering the enchantments on many portraits to make it possible for his friends to circle around the castle as much as possible.

"Sir Cardigan is really missing part of his brain, I tell you. I have half a mind to take his place in the Gryffindor tower," Godric complained

" _That_ is what worries you? They have a _werewolf_ for a teacher!" Rowena exclaimed, frustrated.

"Salazar already assured me he found a way to monitor the man, if he transforms inside the wards, he will know" Helga reassured the woman "The future has come far indeed, he even mentioned some kind of wolfsbane potion to fight a werewolf's transformation"

"Dallian would have given his paw for that" Godric jokes

"Could all of you cease your chatter? I am _trying_ to read" Salazar exclaims from the table where he found himself with a book on the evolution of wizarding law.

"Rowe, he is turning into you" Godric widens his eyes "This is certainly important but it is not an emergency, the school has run reasonably enough without our interference for many years. You are alive yet not living, so give that some thought"

"I am giving the children some thought," Salazar rebuts.

Helga sighs, but soon leaves the painting for the time being, the three following her lead.

It is already night when something alerts him to a disturbance, the wards pull on his magic like a very annoying child poking his arm and he gets up. He did not think the professor would be foolish enough to transform near a student, but that seemed to be what was happening.

With a sigh, he got up, putting on a pair of gloves, and concentrated on the pull, eyes closed to determine just _where_ the blasted teacher was. Where the Headmaster had his mind when he hired a werewolf was anyone's guess. Nothing against the creatures, but they were a danger to the students once a month and in his opinion it was not worth the risk if the man had such a feeble memory as to forget his own danger.

In the blink of an eye, he apparated.

•••

It happened almost in slow motion in Harry's eyes.

In one moment he, Ron and Hermione were backing away from the werewolf – professor Lupin, he reminded himself – and the other Professor Snape was in front of them, wand nowhere in sight.

The werewolf prepared to attack and – fell to the ground.

"You do attract trouble with every breath, don't you child?"

"Salazar!" He had never been more relieved to hear someone's voice than now while Salazar approached the stunned wolf and opened his jaw with gloved hands to pour something down his throat.

A black dog suddenly charged up from the side of the cliff, but stopped in his tracks at the sight of the stunned wolf.

"Who are _you?_ " Snape's voice was controlled as he eyes the werewolf warily, but the man's attention was on the black dog.

"Must I put you out too?" He threatened with eyes trained on the animal.

The dog morphed back into one Sirius Black.

"What did you do to him?" The man accused, eyeing the wolf from behind the tip of Salazar's wand.

"Do keep your wits about you, he is merely asleep" Salazar assured "And you are Sirius Black" he recognized the man from the wanted posters and turned to Harry, one brow raised.

"H-he's innocent" Harry assured, helping Hermione to bring Ron forward.

"I demand answers. Who –"

"Shut up" Salazar waved his wand in Snape's direction and the man could no longer speak "Your try at protecting these students today was admirable, but nothing to redeem how poor a teacher you are. Now, how about taking your injured friend back to the castle?"

"Who _are_ you?" This time the question came from Hermione

"The rat!" Sirius exclaimed, "Where's the rat? Where is Peter?!"

"He escaped" Harry explained "But they'll have to hear us, we can tell them you're innocent! Just come to the castle and –"

"No, the Dementors –" Sirius interrupted in protest

"Will not be a problem" Salazar assured "If we apparated inside"

"No one can apparate in Hogwarts' grounds," Hermione argued

Salazar rolls his eyes.

"Keep the arguments for later, your friend needs to have his leg seen to and I have no wish to face Dementors today" The founder cut her off "Hold onto me. You too, Mr. Snape"

The five approached reluctantly, and in another second, they were off with a _crack._

•••

"Oh my!" Madam Pomfrey exclaimed at the sight of four people appearing inside the room, wand raised in alert "That's Sirius Black!"

Salazar lets out a breath of relief at noticing that apparating with the image taken from Harry's memories had worked. The boy did spend an unhealthy time in this place.

"Yes, but please don't attack. He's innocent!" Harry hurries to assure the woman "Harmless, really"

"Hey" Sirius protests, but shuts up after a look from the boy.

Snape had taken off from the room as soon as they had apparated in.

"But – but – he's…" She kept pointing at him.

"Yes, I am. No, I don't mean you any harm. Now how about you fix this boy's leg before he needs to cut it off?" Sirius points at Ron.

As if a switch had been pressed, the woman is suddenly in control of herself and hurrying Ron to a bed, looking over his injuries and ignoring the other people in the room. Salazar fights back a smile at the memory of Helga doing the same, were all healers so similar?

"You never really said who you are" Hermione approached Salazar, looking suspicious.

"I would like an answer for that as well" The voice came from the door and the three occupants not currently incapacitated turned to face Dumbledore "Also one as to why you are protecting a criminal and Professor Snape is incapable of speech"

"Sirius is innocent, we can prove it!" Harry exclaims, standing in front of the escaped prisoner "Just don't let the Dementors in"

"Harry, I am sure he made you think –"

"No, he didn't. He wasn't the secret keeper, Headmaster. It was Peter, Peter Pettigrew, he's alive"

"Are you sure, my boy?" The headmaster trains his eyes on Harry's, then after a moment seems surprised, after what can be seen as a flash of anger passed through his eyes "Very well, we will inform the Aurors of this development and the Ministry can take care of this misunderstanding"

"The Ministry was the one to mess up in the first place," Sirius protests

Snape is impatiently tapping his foot on the floor, arms crossed.

"Um… can you let Professor Snape speak?" Harry turns to Salazar.

"If I must," He drawls the last word as he draws his wand, wordlessly reversing the spell

"I'm afraid we have not been introduced, Mr…?" Dumbledore extended his hand.

" _Lord_ Salazar Slytherin" The man shook his hand "A pleasure to meet you, Headmaster Dumbledore"

The older man looked stunned, as did four of the other five people in the room.

"You cannot possibly –"

"I take it Godric did not warn anyone of my presence. Good" He nodded approvingly; it was always good to be sure.

" _You're_ Slytherin?" Ron's voice carried from the bed "Slytherin just saved out asses? You've got to be kidding me!"

Salazar raised one brow, unimpressed.

"What he means to say is _Thank you, Sir_ " Hermione spoke slightly more loudly than necessary so Ron could hear.

"Simply looking out for the well-being of students" He assured, casting Harry a meaningful look.

"I believe this matter would be better discussed in my office" Dumbledore cuts the conversation short.

"You can't possibly believe –"

"Severus" The Headmaster threw him a warning look "Please, follow me, all of you. I would like to know what transpired tonight as soon as possible"

Salazar is the first to step forward behind the Headmaster and Snape, the other adult soon following and the two teens in the rear.

The office only held two chairs, so Salazar quickly took two quills from a corner and transfigured each into a chair for the other two, leaving the Professor standing while Dumbledore sat in his chair on the other side of the table.

"Good, do get comfortable" The old man smiled "Lemon drops?"

Most of them accepted, while Salazar and Severus thought better not to.

"Now, who would like to explain first?"

As it turned out, most of them ended up sharing explanations. Harry gave his own story a few twists, telling how he heard from outside the pub and through an open window about Sirius' betrayal and how he had no idea about the rat – Pettigrew – until that night. Sirius explained how he knew about the rat and the fact that he was not the secret keeper and was willing to go to trial under veritasserum – Salazar was intrigued by this potion, but decided better not to mention – to prove it so he could be free. The founder was the last to speak, twisting a tale of curses and time and about the school awakening him in this time of dire need to bring back the founders – Harry held back a laugh at some parts, but managed to contain himself.

"Quite the tale, indeed. And Mr. Lupin?"

"Will sleep as the dead until the moon is out" Salazar assures "now, if you do not mind, I believe it is already past the time for children to be in bed"

"We're not –" Harry closes his mouth at Salazar's look

"Indeed it is. Professor, if you don't mind –"

"I can escort them back to their common room, it is no trouble" Slytherin stood, and Harry followed suit. Hermione hesitated a moment before doing the same. Salazar turned to leave, but turned to Sirius before nearing the door "If the Ministry gives you any trouble, do send an owl my way. The old families would definitely back the Head of the Slytherin House and revolt against a Lord of the Black House being wrongfully incarcerated" he smirks.

"Will do" The man nods, understanding the meaning of his support.

The man leaves, teens in tow.

"Look, thanks but we can take it from here" Harry started as they walked down the corridor.

Hermione sent him a dirty look.

"I insist" he kept walking in the correct direction to their common room.

"Oh, we don't have the password" Hermione noted

Salazar looks in the direction of the portrait that gave entrance to the Gryffindor common room.

"I don't think it will be necessary" they soon approached the door. In the distance, Sir Cardigan was sparring against Godric, sword on sword. Salazar cleared his throat.

"Three on zero" Godric grins, beating the man and pointing his sword at his throat. He walks forward to greet them then "Sally! What are you doing here?"

"The stupid wolf decided it would be a good idea to transform near students," Salazar explained.

"I see Mr. Potter and Miss. Granger still have all of their limbs" Godric comments "Good, wouldn't want such a fine lady to be harmed"

"I believe this is called harassment in this century" Salazar looks unamused "Would you mind opening the door?"

"What is the _password_?" The founder asks.

Harry groans in annoyance.

"How about let us pass and no one hears of the time you've been spending with the nuns in their painting," he suggests.

Godric rolls his eyes.

"No fun, these kids. I tell you, this one should be on your house" he glares at Harry but it is halfhearted at best "Inside you go, then. It is time for bed"

"Thank you" Harry mutters sarcastically, entering the room as soon as it opens.

Hermione stays behind for a moment, turning to Salazar.

"I don't think you told them the entire truth," she admits

"Then you're smart" he rebuts

"But thank you for helping us tonight" she finishes, looking slightly annoyed at the interruption "even if you are who you say you are… maybe you're not entirely a bad person"

"High praise, I see. You are welcome" Salazar raises one brow.

She huffs at the lack of thanks and enters the room, painting closing after her.

* * *

 **A last one before I go to sleep. Comments are appreciated ;)**


	7. Early Morning Introductions

Salazar had half a mind to return to his chambers and refuse any inquiry, since now that there would be no children present the headmaster was likely to act more hostile, but the silvery goat that caught up to him changed his mind.

Of course, he was aware of the patronus charm, but it was one he had taken to practice yet. Mastering the new spells created since his time would definitely take more time than the half year he had been back to himself.

With a sigh, he followed the animal back into the headmaster's office.

"I see Lord Black is not joining us" Is his first comment.

"No need to worry about that, my boy" The bearded man assured with a grandfatherly smile that did not fool him, as the potions master stood by the wall.

"I acknowledge your attempt at asserting your superiority but I must request that you refrain, for it fails" He does not bother to sit, looking coldly at the headmaster.

"I have no idea –"

"Usually, I would bother with appearances, but your incompetence disrupted my studies and put children in immediate danger. Not for the first time, I am sure" Salazar interrupts.

The headmaster looks at the man as if he is a new piece of his favorite puzzle and yet he cannot find where to fit it.

Blue eyes meet green.

"I would also advise you against the use of Legilimency, you and your _pet_ both," He says finally, straying his eyes from the old man's and focusing on the potions master.

" _Pet?_ How dare you –"

"I believe we have already established I do not like the sound of your voice, now shut your mouth or I will be inclined to do it for you in a most unpleasant way" Salazar threatens, making the potions master think twice before continuing.

"Now, not, there is no need for this animosity" Dumbledore gets up from his chair "I merely wanted to extend an invitation for tomorrow's morning feast"

Salazar brought his attention back to the man.

The invitation was a way to show him off, he knew. Revealing his presence in the castle would surely cause much talk and the matter of this night would soon be forgotten by any that managed to extract information from the ones involved.

Still, he had more to gain by presenting himself as if in the headmaster's graces, so he nodded.

"I accept your invitation," he verbalized "Now I must retire to my chambers; I will see you in the morning"

With that, he apparated out of the office.

The headmaster stared at the point the man had just occupied.

A new game was afoot, it appeared. And this time he did not hold all the cards. _Yet._

•••

The morning saw students up and about earlier than usual, not that this was unusual in itself during the past weeks, especially to the students in blue and bronze whom had taken a liking to talking to the founders' portraits before breakfast. The high table was of course back in its place, but that did not stop the students from hanging out behind it and asking all sorts of questions.

As the time scheduled for breakfast neared, Helga made sure to shoo the lingering students back to their tables. All houses were soon present and so were the teachers, but curiously there was an extra chair at the high table with no occupant at all.

Minerva sent Albus an enquiring look.

"I believe our guest is fashionably late" The head master looked amused.

He had in fact informed the other teachers of a visitor that had paid service to the school in aiding a few students the night before, making it look like he had planned for it all along, of course. Who this guest was had not been disclosed.

A moment later, the unknown guest crossed the open doors of the great hall.

Few paid him any attention, engrossed in their conversations while breakfast was not yet served, but the few who did could not help but stare curiously at the stranger.

Salazar was comfortable with the eyes of the young students on him, and he dare say he missed it, the undivided attention and the opportunity to fill the children's minds with knowledge had been a few of his many losses. He walked confidently in his dark green robes with silver embroidery, Slytherin crest proudly on its back – the true family crest, not the simplified house one – had even more students staring as he passed, ones dressed in green and silver particularly.

" _How dare he?"_ he heard a particular whisper coming from one of the boys at the Slytherin table as he approached the high table _"Do you know whose crest that is?"_ many other whispers followed as the ones who noticed him pointed his presence out to their fellow students.

"Mr. Slytherin" The headmaster got up, and simply the greeting had the hall bursting into barely disguised whispers.

" _Lord_ Slytherin" The man corrected, but kept a pleasant smile on his face.

" _Ridiculous, he should be arrested just for that claim"_ another whisper reached his ears, and the founder calmly turned his head to face the origin of it.

"I was taught it is impolite to insult people behind their backs, and hope others know this as well" He stated, not coldly but with the tone, he used to adopt for teaching "Feel free to present any accusations to my face, I would gladly explain any misunderstandings, with the headmaster's permission of course" he added as an afterthought.

"Of course, my boy" The headmaster nodded and directed his voice to the hall "We have an unusual visitor, be sure to welcome him warmly. I believe he would prefer to introduce himself" he smiled and sat.

"You're wearing the Slytherin house crest" The boy from before stated.

Salazar pretended to be thinking up an excuse as he wondered if the boy's hair color was naturally that white.

"Indeed I am" he nodded "It is my family's crest, after all"

"Impossible" that came from the Ravenclaw table, and he turned to faze the speaker "No known descendant of Salazar Slytherin is alive to this day," the seventh year explained.

"That is because he never had any children," A familiar voice explained.

Salazar mentally sighed. It had been too good to be true; he should have known Godric would soon make himself known.

"His sister did, though" the painting continued "Did I mention how beautiful she was? Like a flower, just as was her name. Couldn't help attracting all the looks from the men"

Salazar glared at the portrait.

"What? It is true!" the man raises his hands as if in surrender.

"I do believe it was time for breakfast, and you have had enough dramatics for the morning, boys"

" _Is she talking to them both?"_

" _Why is Lord Slytherin looking at Godric like that?"_

" _He should show some respect to the founders!"_

"As you wish, Helga" Salazar sighed, then proceeded to the high table, stopping for a moment to address the hall "I am immensely grateful to walk these halls once again, and hope to continue to do so for some time. My name is Salazar Slytherin, but students may call me Salazar if they so wish" with a bow, he walks to his chair.

The hall explodes in loud protests, most of the teachers also joining in.

"Well, at least they have learned not to accept all as it's presented to them" Rowena reasons, eliciting a laugh from a few.

Dumbledore, Snape, Harry, Ron and Hermione were the few who did not react to the introductions, and surprisingly so Professor Flitwick.

"An honor, Lord Slytherin" the half-goblin professor was the closest to the man's seat on his right and greeted him with a nod "I trust Gringotts was already aware of your return?"

Salazar nodded back.

"And they have been most helpful" the founder assures.

"Yes, they're as plotting as you, Sally" Godric cuts and the tone causes some of the hall to quieten.

"Why, Godric, still holding grudges?" Salazar held back a smile at his theatrics.

"The dead still remember, you conniving bastard," The portrait said, but a smile threatened to break through.

"My parents were married, I believe you know that" Salazar raises one brow.

Most of the hall watched the interaction as if it were a tennis match.

It was one thing to have the man claim to be Salazar Slytherin, but another to have the real portraits confirm it – and real they were, Dumbledore had made sure to call people for examination as soon as it was possible and all pointed to their authenticity. Some even tried to convince them to go to the Ministry, but the portraits were unmovable to any but the one who put them there.

What if Godric and the others had only been singing praise to Salazar to save face, or maybe to try to change house views. They may not even have known the man was alive, only speaking well of him to maintain their appearances. Now, with the man standing in flesh and bone – or so he appeared – in front of the founders, the story might change.

"Unfortunately, or else I would have pursued for your sister's hand" The man grinned, causing Salazar to roll his eyes.

"You don't ever change" The living founder smirked.

"Can the two of you stop raising the tension in this room? The children will have classes in half an hour," Helga chastised, making the founder of the Gryffindor house smile sheepishly.

"You must admit it is entertaining, after all the students did not completely believe us about Salazar from the start," Rowena notes "They're simply paying the parts"

"And you are ruining our fun" Godric as good as pouted.

"Don't do that, it's unbecoming of your age" Slytherin chastised "And it would be better to stop, I have no wish to play the part of the villain in this stance. I did miss these halls too much to risk losing access to them"

"As if anyone could force you to do something you do not want" Helga holds his gaze.

" _They're friends. They're actually friends"_ a whisper from the Gryffindor table reached his ears, having come from the close end of it.

Salazar smiled contently.

"Well, I believe it is time to eat" the founder said, and in in less than a second breakfast was served, only a few moments late as if the elves had known about the morning event.

And maybe they had.

•••

Dumbledore took the time of breakfast to observe the man's interactions with other teachers. He was pleasant and polite, even while maintaining the need for his title on the name, at least when it came to anyone that was not a student. Lupin, already recovered from his nightly activities, was sitting to the man's left and conversing about the potion said man had seen fit to feed him the night before. Apparently, he had never felt better after a transformation.

His carefully constructed game had been changed, an unknown piece added, and he did not like that.

Harry had been set up from the start as the perfect martyr, raised in a bad environment to make him view Dumbledore as his savior and holder of all answers once rescued from his world and cast into the wizarding one. His tests for the boy proved that he had the courage – a kinder name for stupidity – of a Gryffindor and the necessary selflessness to put others before himself, all was going perfectly well until these unknown variables had entered the picture.

He had to make sure Slytherin kept to himself and in no way decided to influence the boy. If he played his cards correctly, the wizarding world would continue to see him as a pillar of justice and soon shun the man away, leaving his path once again as free as planned.

It was, after all, the way of the Greater Good.

"If the headmaster it in agreement, of course" The man's voice cut through his thoughts, and he realized he had not heard of what they were speaking.

"Yes, it's no problem" he agreed, as to not sound like he had not paid attention.

"Good, it will be a pleasure to watch how classes are being conducted" The founder smiled, innocently to any observer but Dumbledore recognized the smile of someone that had just won.

He might prove to be more trouble than the headmaster initially thought.

* * *

 **And so Salazar shows himself. To tose wondering why he didn't stay in the shadows, information widely known is more difficult to be denied, and his presence is one of those things. Also, it definetly gets lonely with just the three founders for company, he's only human and misses his students.**

 **Thanks to Angel-Hime-Chan, NakedFury and magicanimegurl for the lovely comments. As an answer to the latter, I will work on that soon.**


	8. Poor Potions Period

It was still a couple weeks to the tests, so even students like most Gryffindors, the occasional postponing Hufflepuff or a few lazy Slytherins had taken to paying attention in class.

Salazar's presence, though, seemed like a very good reason for them not to.

The founder decided to sit on different classes along the seven years, as well as all of the electives. He started with first year Herbology – children should not deal with crying mandrakes so soon. A second year class of History of magic – the professor's ghost had most likely died of boredom inflicted by his own voice, and was currently making his way to a third year class of Potions.

"I hope you don't plan on disturbing my lesson further," Snape sneered at the founder, who had entered the room three minutes after everyone was inside but still close to five minutes from the scheduled starting time.

"I do not see anything to be disturbed, but as you wish" Salazar answers unperturbed, leaning against the door wall.

The Slytherin students were torn between awe and hate of the man said to be the founder of their house, but most knew better than to gawk by now.

Gryffindors, on the other hand, wavered between suspicion and disbelief, with a dash of fear from one or two students, which angered Salazar to no end, not because of the students but of how his reputation came to be.

"Today you will be producing a Blood-Replenishing potion, since many dunderheads in this class have the habit of getting into trouble and trying to get themselves killed" a pointed look at Harry and his trio. The teacher waves his wand towards a black board on the front of the class, written instructions appearing on it "These are the instructions, which can also be found on page 253 of your books. Form pairs, you have two hours to bring any decent work to my desk for evaluation" with that, he sat down behind his worktable.

Salazar looked unimpressed. The instructions were misleading at best, instead of specific, and the professor seemed less than inclined to help the students in their endeavor.

"Don't mind me," he mutters while leaning over the shoulder of a Gryffindor to look at the book instructions.

Those were slightly better, but only a few students seemed to have the book present. He narrowed his eyes. _Is that a fourth-year book? They are third-years._

Salazar of course knew various potions that had this same effect, and had indeed studied its new version – he also had a penchant for trouble, despite not admitting it – and applied a few improvements. There were many plants that did not grow near his home at that time that could be acquired much more easily at this time, it seemed.

"Careful, you're supposed to start it at low heat" he stopped a Gryffindor student that had gotten a little enthusiastic with the fire under his caldron.

"Thanks" the boy mutters, noticing that this instruction was nowhere to be seen on the board and he did not have a fourth-year book.

"I will appreciate if you refrain from meddling with the student's work" Snape turned a glare at the man.

"Do you usually only write directions without any further instruction and leave all the work for the children?" Salazar raises one brow.

Snape's lack of response is one itself.

"The Headmaster authorized merely observation of classes," Severus rebuts

" _The Headmaster_ allowed me to act as I pleased in any class I decided to observe" Salazar smirks and when meeting the man's eyes projects a faint fabricated memory of said allowance being granted "I will help any student who requires any help"

With that, the founder turns back to another table, barely stopping a vial of Silverweed extract from hitting the floor.

"Careful, Mr…?"

"N-Neville Longbottom, S-sir" The boy looked up at him nervously, hands shaking slightly.

"Well, Mr. Longbottom, you really should keep less ingredients in your worktable" he explained with a light smile, not wanting to unnerve the child further "For example, beetle eyes are not required for this specific potion, nor are Chizpurfle fangs" Salazar takes both vials, returning the one with Silverweed extract to the table and leaving to store the other two.

He approaches two Slytherin boys in the back that do not seem to have started, too busy whispering between themselves.

"And what seems to be wrong here?" he lowers himself to look at the cauldron.

"N-nothing, Lord Slytherin" Salazar sighs; those were two of the awed ones then.

"Well, I don't see any Honeywater simmering in this cauldron, so why not start with that?" He suggests, soon walking to another table.

Severus maintains his icy gaze following the founder, seething to send the man running but having orders from Dumbledore to watch and avoid interference.

Salazar kept walking around the class, observing and landing a hand whenever it looked necessary.

"What of my potion, Mr. Slytherin?" Hermione called, making the founder turn to look.

Her posture was of one sure to be correct.

"It seems you did not add enough Nettle leaves" He criticizes after examining the potion.

A few of the Slytherin boys laugh while Hermione looks momentarily offended before reaching for more Nettle leaves.

"That's very good" Salazar stops near the platinum blond boy, looking inside the caldron.

"I know" the boy answers with a superior tone.

" _Biased, he is"_ A whisper reaches his ears but he cannot tell who said it.

"It could use a little less arrogance and a little more Occamy scale powder" He adds, to the boy's dismay, and continues on observing.

"Have you added the Flobberworm mucus?" he stands next to Neville again, his expression as open as before.

"Y-yes Sir"

"That's good, but be careful not to let it simmer for more than one minute or it might become too thick to swallow," He instructs, and the boy hurriedly extinguishes the fire, causing the founder to chuckle.

It is not hard to notice that they work on little instructions and usually are not encouraged, he would be able to tell even without Harry's memories of the class. Most Gryffindors seem less apt in potion making than the Slytherins, and the founder has a vague suspicion that the head of house offers them instructions outside of class, since it is _not_ a requirement of Godric's house to not be studious.

He sighs before hurrying to stop a blonde Gryffindor from ending up cutting her finger. That was the wrong knife.

•••

"Is he _Really_?" Ron insisted during breakfast, leg already nicely healed "But he acts so nice!"

"I believe him" Harry shrugs, not inclined to share the why.

"Well, if he will be supervising classes, be ready for more points to Slytherin house" Hermione sighs

"He can't award points" Ron argues, "He's not a teacher"

"I know that, _Ronald._ But look at them, they're hooked already" She looks at the high table, where at least half of the teachers were happily chatting with the man, including professor Lupin "If he compliments a student in class, they'll probably give points too"

"I still don't believe the guy, Slytherin is supposed to be an evil old man. He's not even old," Ron argues "look at them, they're swooning," he points to a few girls on the Hufflepuff table, all above fifth year, and scrunches up his face in disgust.

No one mentions that the jury is still out on _evil._

"Let's finish eating, we have Charms first thing" Harry changes the subject, avoiding to look at the founder.

The two first classes fly by and soon they find themselves in the dungeons for potions. Harry prepares himself for one more round of backhanded compliments and veiled insults – sometimes not even veiled – from the teacher that hates him with no reason.

He does not know whether to be thankful or not for Salazar's presence. He was set on being cross with the man – one does not simply invade someone's head and see all their memories without even _asking_ first! On the other hand, he was being helpful to all students, no matter their house, and even talked Snape down for trying to keep him from helping. Gryffindors were, not surprisingly, the ones that needed more help.

Harry tried to keep his head down and work on his and Ron's potion silently, his result being good from the fact that this was one of the potions Salazar had let him help with doing on the beginning of the year.

"What do you think you're doing, Mr. Potter?" The Professor's icy tone makes him pull his hand away from where he was about to add an ingredient.

"Uh – adding a dash of Wartcap powder, sir" Harry answers meekly, remembering that it was not in the original recipe and was in fact a modification Salazar had made while brewing his own potion.

"That is not in the instructions, Potter" The professor stands up "Do you believe yourself better than the potions master who made it, is it?"

"No Sir" he sighs "but –"

"You arrogance is –"

"Nonexistent" Salazar cuts in "In fact, if you consider the potion's properties and reactions, adding a pinch of Wartcap powder would have the effect of helping to close any open wounds. Now, I do believe that is a very good addition, even if it is not in the _fourth-year_ book instructions"

Snape's grunt is the only acknowledgement Harry's addition receives, except from glares coming from a few Slytherins.

"Good work" Salazar praises before walking along.

Hermione is looking at him wide-eyed.

"How did you know that? _Did_ you know that?" she whispers, leaning towards Harry.

"Just luck, got the wrong ingredient" Harry explains in a low voice.

Hermione rolls her eyes and goes back to her own work.

"Mate, you're lucky," Ron sounds relieved.

 _Right._

•••

It takes more work than it should for Salazar to track down the boy, which is as impressing as it is frustrating. In the end, he hangs back in the Transfiguration class to catch the boy unaware, knowing he will be the last to come out of their last class since his two friends left ahead and he seems to avoid crowds when alone.

"Harry" He calls once the boy leaves the classroom "Mr. Potter"

"What?" the boy turns to him looking annoyed and conflicted.

Salazar refrains from brushing his mind with the child's for an impression of his emotions.

"May I have a word?" he asks, instead.

It takes a moment, but Harry nods after thinking it over.

He leads him to a nearby empty classroom, letting the boy enter first and closing the door behind them, proceeding to write a few runes with his wand near it and cast a silencing charm.

"The walls have ears" he explain to Harry's confused look, which turns to understanding at the expression.

Salazar meant it quite literally.

"What do you want, sir? I haven't got any new memories you won't know about," The boy informs with resentment.

"I wished to apologize" Salazar admits

"You had no right to – wait what?" The boy stops, eyes wide.

"I should not have violated your mind nor shared parts of my findings with my friends, even with the student's best interest in mind." Salazar admits, lowering himself to be on Harry's eye-level "In my own time such a violation to the privacy of a student without consent would have had me out of the school, and while I had my reasons, I do regret I had to do it"

"…parts? Y-you didn't tell them…" Harry's cheeks darken slightly and he looks down, avoiding the man's eyes.

"That was not mine to share, though such treatment should never be given to anyone" He assures the boy, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"It's nothing" Harry rapidly interrupts.

"It most certainly not _nothing_ " He lets some of his anger show, startled green eyes meeting his "Those terrible people should never have been allowed to care for a child!"

"They're my family" Harry shrugs, the statement not sounding true enough even to his own ears.

"They are despicable human beings that should not be allowed to live" Salazar is almost hissing at the end of the phrase, making Harry step back slightly "You are too young to have dealt with most of what you have in your life, it was time someone told you it is fine to just be a child. The world is not on your shoulders, Harry"

"Sure feels like it" The boy admits.

"You are not to blame for that, only that manipulative old goat" The founder mutters the last part, referring to Dumbledore.

Harry simply looks confused.

"I missed potion lessons without all the screaming" Harry finally breaks the silence, offering a small smile.

"He is a terrible teacher" Salazar nods "I recently found instructions to the truth potion, how do you feel about helping me until dinner?"

"I'd like that"

* * *

 **As some may have noticed, I pushed the werewolf events back a bit, making it not so near to the end of the year, I hope it doesn't bother anyone.**

 **Thanks to Angel-Hime-Chan for the comment, I'm glad you're liking it :)**

 _ **Yes, buckbeak died. Sorry animal lovers, but that is the way of the corrupt Ministry of Magic (blame Lucius Malfoy), no time-turner was used this time around.**_


	9. Catching up With The Past

Salazar was stalling.

He was good at that; always had been, especially whenever he had other matters to attend to. For example, he was very busy since he came back to the land of the living. After all, he had to make sure his existence was acknowledged and Lordship restored to its full rights – done. There was also the matter of having his inheritances from Rowena, Helga and Godric recognized and put to effect – the ministry was giving him trouble over that, apparently one could not _own_ Hogwarts, which had him itching to run a few people through with his sword but unfortunately it was not considered appropriate to this time. Of course, he was still working on adapting to this new time – it's not appropriate to carry weapons but it is common to kiss in public and have relations before marriage, he could not understand what went on these people's brains.

Overall, it was a bit of a hurry, so of course he had little time to discuss with his friends what had happened once he had been imprisoned besides what he knew from the enormous amount of gloating the Dark Lord of their time had done.

"I told you he would come around" Helga's kind voice sounded behind him while he stirred his latest work in the silver caldron.

He almost regretted having found a way for them to move around in his _den_ , as Godric called and he had taken a liking to. The three insisted on him not simply putting three frames on a wall of each room, awful decoration Godric had insisted. Instead, he and Rowena had devised a way for their original frames – no, the ones in the Great Hall were not in fact the original – to carry them on command to one part or the other of his rooms.

He just tried to avoid being struck by Godric's floating painting every now and then, the man seemed intent on hitting him for some reason, maybe making up for lost time. Well, he was his usual annoying and childish self so Salazar was not too worried.

"Yes, you do have a sense for these things, I wonder why it is Rowena and not you that has a seer gift" He answers without turning to the floating portrait.

"Because she knows better how to act on it" The woman answered easily "Or else we would have tried to bring you back and gotten ourselves killed"

"Good thing then" Salazar mutters

"We will need to speak of it sooner or later," Helga said softly

"I would rather it be later" The living founder rebutted coldly "I have many things to do"

A sigh is heard and a moment later, he knows he is alone again.

•••

"He still refuses to speak of it" Helga and the two other portraits were on the small library at the end of Slytherin's den, which had almost four times the amount of books the main room held.

"It is understandable," Rowena says while floating near an open book. Her own library inside the painting not being updated in some time "It was his apprentice to take his place, after all. He might feel responsible for it all the same"

"It wasn't _him_ " Godric insisted, "He is not allowed to take the guilt from that traitorous man, it's not _his_ fault greed got the better of him"

"I beg to differ" Salazar's voice interrupted the conversation and the portraits slowly floated to face the living founder as he walked into the room "I was the one that led him into the Dark Arts"

"He was the one that let it go to his head!" Godric exclaims, "You can't carry the world on your shoulders, it's not your place to"

A low laugh leaving the man's lips startles the three founders.

"Apologies, I just find it ironic that I delivered a similar speech only yesterday to Harry" Salazar says after his laughter dies, sitting in a comfortable looking couch by the wall.

The paintings, as default, float right after him.

"You must learn to heed your own words, then. They are usually good advice" Rowena is the first to speak.

Salazar sighs.

"I take it that if I refuse to take part in this discussion, you will continue to whisper like young maidens behind my back?"

"In our defense, two of us are maidens" Helga jokes with a smile "Maybe not so young anymore"

"Speak for yourself" Rowena throws in indignantly

"Very well" Salazar sighs, "Tell me of what happened after that night"

The request was enough to sober up the other three founders.

"To my shame, I must admit we did not notice any difference" Godric sighs "As you know, our disagreement regarding magical children born to non-magical families – I mean, muggleborns" he corrects, not yet used to the term "had escalated quite badly and I was not inclined to acknowledge my wrongdoings. When you finally returned from your den, I avoided conversation and in consequence did not see any change. It took Rowe and Helga pulling me aside to finally open my eyes"

"I was too blinded, my focus on the diadem and imbuing it with knowledge made me susceptible to not notice details, and he was unfortunately good in mimicking your mannerisms for a long time" Rowena lowers her head in shame.

"We did spend much time together, I do not blame you for not noticing" Salazar dismisses the subject, even if it does anger him. Now was not time for this; it was in the past "What did Aeron do to alert you that I was not myself?"

"Nothing" Rowena admits "When you - he began treating us differently, I attributed it to your fight with Godric; and Helga…"

Salazar's suddenly hard look snaps to the blond woman's portrait.

"Did he do something to you?"

"Calm yourself, Salazar" she reprimands "No, he did not succeed in his advances, and you must remember that this is all in the past now"

"It surprisingly does not diminish my wish to kill him," Salazar notes sarcastically.

Helga was his, not in a romantic way, but more in his uncommon possessive sense. She had come to him for aid, not his boastful cousin, when the children of her village began to be hunted and burned. She put her faith on him when he promised to find a place where magical children would be able to have the freedom they deserved. She was the one to take care of him when he sickened after a quest and chastise him when no one else found the courage to, for she was not afraid.

She was _his_ , and his betrayer apprentice had no right.

With a deep breath, he closed his eyes and reigned in the wild feelings threatening to overwhelm his will over his magic.

This was not the time.

"It was months until I had the vision, and even then it was unclear" Rowena continued "I saw your discussion with Basil and how you made yourself bigger to clarify that she had no power over you because of her size, and how she froze you with her eyes, but that was it"

"She told us about it, but we figured you must have found a way to break free of it with Aeron's help. We had no reason to suspect you were not yourself," Godric continues

"Except for the fact that he kept drinking something, we could never tell what it was" Helga noted.

"It was a potion I had recently invented while in one of my experiments" Salazar explains, "I believe it is now called Polyjuice, although it has been modified to a lesser effect. My version transforms your body on a cellular level to the one you add the blood to the potion. I should have suspected Aeron was too enthusiastic in learning how to brew it to perfection, but alas, I did not. Once he found me frozen by Basil's eyes, he took the opportunity to lock her away and collect great part of my blood for the potion, then use a spell to made me appear to be of stone"

"All that time, and we never noticed" Helga laments

"Whenever _did_ you notice? You would not have given your vaults to my name had you not done it," Salazar asks impatiently

The three hesitated, unsure of how to proceed.

"You – he began attacking villages" Godric answers in a whisper "It was terrible, he said the non – the muggles would pay for killing our kind. Terribly dark spells, not the ones you normally use. Undying fires, deadly curses on those who survived… We tried to talk sense into him, but it did not work"

"And still, we did not wish to fight one that was our closest friend" Rowena added "At first we told ourselves that they might deserve it, for the evils they did, but –"

"He started killing their children," Helga said, covering her mouth to prevent a sob. Her eyes watered at the memory "non-magical children, with no means to defend themselves"

"I went after him," Godric continues after throwing Helga a sympathetic look "He attacked me, tried to kill me. I got away; he was not nearly as good as you were dueling. Too slow, failing aim, and never threw one knife. Still, my anger did not let me notice it"

"It was while Godric was out that I had another vision" Rowena takes the cue "Of him turning back into himself and then drinking a potion that made him change into you. He was boasting about his recent deeds. About –" she paused, controlling her breath "About having killed Godric"

Salazar stood as if in a reflex, the paintings snapping to the sides and away from him.

"We were so relieved when he came back to us," She continued, trying to calm him down "I told Helga, whom had already noticed you had not been yourself, and we both approached Godric with the vision"

"He killed you. I killed you" He turned to Godric, ignoring the other two portraits.

"Did you not hear? I came back to them" Godric tries

"Her visions always came true. You may not have died then, but he – I –" Salazar took a moment to regain control, his magic pulsing under his skin eager to lash out. It would not take much "He killed you"

Godric's pained look did nothing to help his control.

"He did" The red haired man admitted "Much later, yes, but he did. _Not you. Him._ "

In the spam of a second, Salazar was nowhere to be seen.

A few minutes later, the whole wizarding community felt a strange, faint wave of power wash over them, but dismissed it. Somewhere far away in the middle of desert sand, no living creature visible for miles, the fourth founder had fallen to the ground, arms wrapped around himself as his wild magic cursed through him, the force promising to leave him exhausted once his anger rescinded.

•••

Harry felt it during a History of Magic lesson.

"Did you feel that?" He wondered aloud to his two best friends.

"What?" Ron blinked himself awake.

"Yes, you did too?" Hermione frowned.

"Yeah, it felt like when Salazar –" he shut himself up, but suddenly found himself worried "I need to do something, I'll be back to Charms class. Maybe" he got up and ran out of the room, a few eyes of the students that were not asleep following his path.

"Wait, what?" Ron got up, being dragged by Hermione.

"Come on, Harry's doing something" Hermione dragged the boy out of the room.

"Is he being weird again?" Ron asked once she let go of him and he could walk on his own pace "Like on the beginning of the year? Oh, we weren't…"

"Yes, we weren't talking, but I did notice it" She glares at him "Come on, he went that way"

Harry was too busy with trying not to be seen by any teacher or prefect to notice the two students following him. He entered Myrtle's bathroom a few minutes later, the ghost nowhere to be seen, and stood in front of the sink.

" _ **Open. Give me steps."**_ He hissed, the command working not a moment later and revealing the passage, forming stairs to the ground.

"Harry!" Hermione called once he had started to go down, making him lose his balance and trip, rolling all the way down the stairs and falling on a heap at the bottom with a groan of pain.

"Mate, you alright?" Ron asked from the top, while Hermione was already halfway down the stairs herself.

"Come on, _Ronald_ " She prompted, and the redhead hesitated for a second before following, muttering about bad teachers and traumatic experiences under his breath. The entrance closed behind him "Harry? I'm so sorry"

The boy had already started to get up from the floor, glaring at Hermione.

"I'm fine" he sighed, straightening his back and holding back a moan of pain at the reaction his right side had "I told you not to come after me"

"No, you didn't" Hermione answers.

"Blimey, who cleaned this place?" Ron had already passed them and was looking around the much different chamber "Is this where you've been sneaking into all year?"

"I didn't think you'd noticed" Harry admits

"Of course we did, we're your best friends," Hermione says in a calm voice "We just thought you needed space, and… well, I was busy. And then you stopped talking to me so"

"Sorry ´bout that" Harry mutters "Look, I don't have time to explain now, just please don't tell anyone. Salazar would kill me"

Ron widens his eyes, but soon both nod, choosing to leave any questions for later.

" _ **Open"**_ Harry hisses again after reaching the other door, walking right into the main room.

He snorts at hearing Hermione gasp.

"Oh, there you are" Godric's voice sounds, making the three jump as the portrait floats near an empty wall.

"Where's Salazar? I felt… his magic?" Harry asked

"Oh dear, we should not have told him everything like that" Helga's voice came from another part of the room and they turned to see her floating over the pool.

"He had to know sooner or later" Rowena disagreed, her portrait floating over the table.

"What –" Ron seemed to have difficulty finding his voice.

" _Harry James Potter,_ how could you not tell me about this place?!" Hermione chastised, apparently not having the same problem anymore "Look at those _books!_ "

"Sorry. Look, Mione, can we discuss this later? I think there's something wrong with Salazar" Harry leaves his friend's side to approach the three paintings that had regrouped over the round table on the center of the room.

" _He's Slytherin, of course there's something wrong with him,"_ Ron mutters, but apparently not low enough.

"Don't you dare speak that way about him!" Godric snaps, "Salazar has suffered more than you know and I will not stand for seeing his name slandered any longer"

"Godric, Sir" Harry calls his attention back from Ron, who looked like he might pee his pants "Is there something wrong? What was that magic… thing?"

Helga sighs.

"There was a reason he was painted as the villain since our time" They all decided to ignore Ron's ' _aha!'_ "But it is a long story, and the reason for what you felt. We were telling Salazar of what occurred after he was cursed"

"Please ma'am" Hermione approached respectfully "If there's something we can do to help…"

" _Please_ " Harry insists

"Very well" It is Rowena who answers, "Take a seat, the three of you"

Harry, Ron and Hermione are soon in three of the chairs surrounding the table.

"Are you sure we should tell them?" Godric asks.

"Trust me" Rowena smiled slightly, a familiar glint in her eyes.

Helga and Godric nod, and the founders begin their story.

* * *

 **So... I'm a bit anxious about this chapter. Opinions?**


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